Up-Inclined Coveyor-Driving Fabric Dyeing Machine

ABSTRACT

An up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine includes a machine body that is arranged in a front-high-and-rear-low up-inclined configuration. A liquid storage tank is mounted to a bottom of a rear end of the machine body to receive dye liquid falling down from a rear end of a dyeing tube. Thus, the amount of the dye liquid used can be greatly reduced. Further, with such an up-inclined configuration of the dyeing machine, the dyeing tube can be arranged in a horizontal or slightly inclined manner to reduce the heights of a fabric guide roller and the conveyor and thus reduce the distance between the fabric guide roller and the conveyor device, thereby reducing the stretching force and tensile force applied to the fabric during the dyeing process.

(A) TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a dyeing machine for dyeingfabrics, and more particularly to a dyeing machine that remarkablyreduces water consumption so as to reduce the use of stream, chemicalagents, and dye stuff, making the cost of fabric dyeing more economicand better meeting the need for environmental conservation, and alsohelping protect the fabric from being damaged by excessive stretchingforces during the dyeing process.

(B) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In a conventional fabric dyeing machine, when a fabric is circulated andthus dyed in a machine body thereof, since the fabric, in movingfrontward from a rear end of the dyeing machine, is assisted by theflotation of the dye liquid and the driving force of the dye liquid, therear end of the machine body is generally designed to be horizontal orrelatively high, while the front end is made lower so as to show afront-low-rear-high inclined configuration. Thus, the conventionaldyeing machine has the following disadvantages in respect of theconveyance of the fabric:

(1) The fabric is moved (forward) by being driven by the dye liquid withthe fabric immersed in or floating on the dye liquid, so that the liquorratio must be extremely large, requiring a great amount of dye liquid toenable circulation and movement of the fabric; the amount of water usedis relatively great; the fabric may move irregularly with the dyeliquid, making it hard to control the circulation and susceptible toentangling; and the circulation speed of the fabric is unstable andvariable, making the cycle time of circulation differ greatly.

(2) Although the fabric is afloat with the flotage of the dye liquid,most of the fabric still sinks down to the bottom of dyeing bath, sothat the fabric may get pilling and scraped during the conveyancethereof due to abrasion between the fabric and the wall of the dye bathand the fabric may be further damaged in respect of the construction andcharacteristics thereof due to the stretching forces induced in drivingthe fabric.

(3) The dye liquid that is applied to dye the fabric and then falls downin the rear end of the dye tube must flows from the rear end of themachine body to the front end that is at a relative lower position andthe dye liquid must be then drawn and pumped by a pump to a nozzle forfurther driving the fabric to circulate, so that a great amount ofliquid is needed in the dye bath of the machine body and thus a greatconsumption of the dye liquid may result.

(4) Since the fabric is conveyed with the dye liquid, in addition to thegreat consumption of water, the liquor ratio may get varying greatlywhen the actual loading of fabric applied is less than the minimalloading capacity, whereby, besides the great consumption of water, othershortcomings, such as poor reproductivity, batch deviation, and colormismatching, may occur.

Further, since the rear end of the machine body of the conventionaldyeing machine is set at a location higher than the front end, thefabric guide roller must be set at a higher location inside the machinebody, making the stretching force or tension force that the fabric guideroller applies to the fabric or the fabric self weight increased,leading to the problem of damaging the construction and characteristicsof the fabric.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a dyeing machine thatgreatly reduces the amount of the dye liquid (namely the amount ofwater) used as compared to a conventional fabric dyeing machine so as tofurther reduce the cost of dyeing fabrics and to promote the effect ofenvironmental protection.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dyeing machinethat reduces the height distance between a fabric guide roller and aconveyor device in order to allow the fabric that is driven by thefabric guide roller and the conveyor device to subject to a decreasedstretching force and thus protecting the fabric from damage of theconstruction and characteristics thereof.

A feature of the present invention is that a liquid storage tank ismounted to a bottom of a rear end of a fabric dyeing machine so that thedye liquid contained in the machine body, after dyeing a fabric within anozzle and a dyeing tube, can be all collected and accumulated in theliquid storage tank except the fraction of the dye liquid that iscontained in the fabric, allowing a pump to directly suck the dye liquidfrom the liquid storage tank and pumping it through a heat exchanger tobe conveyed to the nozzle to complete a dyeing cycle. Further, since thepump is allowed to directly suck the dye liquid from the rear end of themachine body, the water consumption for the dye liquid to flow from arear end of the machine body to the front end can be eliminated.Further, a liquid storage tank, which receives and preserves the dyeliquid therein, has a planar surface area that is smaller than thedyeing bath so that the liquid level can be heightened, facilitating thepumping operation of the pump, preventing vacuum induced throughevacuation, reducing the amount of liquid required for the circulation,thereby greatly reducing the amount of dye liquid used, reducing fabricdyeing expense, and being more environmentally conservative.

Another feature of the present invention is that the bottom of the rearend of the machine body of the dyeing machine is set at a lowerposition, while the front end is set a higher position to show anup-inclined configuration so that besides reducing the height of thefabric guide roller inside the machine body, the distance between thefabric guide miler and the conveyor device is also shortened to reducethe stretching force applied to moving the fabric by the fabric guideroller and the own weight of the wetting fabric.

The technical solution of the present invention is that within a machinebody of a dyeing machine, a dyeing tube is arranged in a horizontal orslightly inclined configuration and a conveyor device is set up in themachine body of the dyeing machine to be substantially parallel to themachine body and showing a front-high-and-rear-low up-inclinedconfiguration. The conveyor device can be made up of a single conveyancebelt or a plurality of conveyance belts according to the needs ofapplications. A nozzle and a fabric guide roller are arranged in thefront end of the machine body. The conveyor device conveys a fabric fromthe rear end of the machine body to the front end to pass through thefabric guide roller to enter the nozzle and the dyeing tube forinteracting with the dye liquid to accomplish dyeing. The machine bodyis arranged to have the front end thereof higher than the rear end sothat the machine body shows an up-inclined configuration with the frontend higher than the rear end. A liquid storage tank is mounted to thebottom of the rear end of the machine body. The liquid storage tank hasa bottom that is connected via piping, a pump, and a heat exchanger tothe nozzle. The pump sucks and pumps the dye liquid from the liquidstorage tank to pass through the heat exchanger to reach and be ejectedfrom the nozzle, whereby the dye liquid is allowed to subsequentlyreturn from the rear end of the dyeing tube to directly fall back intothe liquid storage tank so as to complete circulation of the dye liquid.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention comprises a filtermounted in the liquid storage tank to filter off the fluff from thefabric or impurities, which entrain the dye liquid, in order toeliminate the water consumption for installation of an additionalfiltration tank.

The present invention provides a liquid storage tank that is arranged atthe rear end of the machine body, has a relatively small capacity, butprovides a liquid level difference that is relatively higher than themachine body to serve as a container for collecting and accumulating thedye liquid, so as to eliminate the problem of consuming a great amountof dye liquid. Further, the up-inclined machine body of the dyeingmachine also helps reduce the height of the fabric guide roller that islocated at a high position and thus shortening the distance between thehigh-position fabric guide roller and the low-position conveyor device,thereby reducing the stretching force and the own weight of the fabricthat the fabric guide roller applies to move the fabric.

The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introductionto the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects ofthe present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detaileddescription of the invention and the claims should be read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specificationand drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similarparts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will becomemanifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to thedetailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which apreferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of thepresent invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the structure of a dyeing machineaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the structure of a dyeing machineaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are notintended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of theinvention in any way. Rather, the following description provides aconvenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of theinvention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made inthe function and arrangement of the elements described without departingfrom the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention provides an up-inclinedconveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine, which comprises a dyeing tube 12that is arranged at the top portion of a machine body 1 to in ahorizontal or slightly inclined configuration to allow a fabric to passtherethrough. Mounted inside the machine body 1 at high locations are anozzle 5 and a fabric guide roller 4. An idler 41 is mounted below thefabric guide roller 4. The machine body 1 is set in an inclinedconfiguration with a front end at a higher location and a rear end at alower location, so that an angle θ is present between a bottom of themachine body 1 and the horizon. The angle θ can be varied according topractical needs. A liquid storage tank 6 is arranged at the bottom ofthe rear end and a bottom of the liquid storage tank 6 is connected bypiping to the nozzle 5. The piping comprises a pump 7 and a heatexchanger 8 mounted thereto. The pump 7 is further connected by pipingto a chemical tank 11. Arranged inside a lower portion of the machinebody 1 under the dyeing tube 12 is a conveyor device 2 that shows anup-inclined configuration with a higher front end and a lower rear end.The conveyor device 2 may be made up of a single conveyance belt ormultiple conveyance belts according to the needs of applications.Preferably, the liquid storage tank 6 may comprise a filter 61 mountedtherein. The control of a dyeing process and the control of the dyeingmachine can be controlled with a control box 9.

The fabric 3, after being deposited into the machine body 1, passesthrough the idler 41 within the machine body 1 and is driven the fabricguide roller 4 into the nozzle 5 to enter the dyeing tube 12 and thendrops down onto the conveyor device 2 to be conveyed in a circulatingmanner. During the circulating conveyance of the fabric 3, the pump 7pumps dye liquid L that is accumulated in the liquid storage tank 6 andthe machine body of the dyeing machine to first pass through the heatexchanger 8 and then ejected through the nozzle 5 to assist driving thefabric 3 forward. The dye liquid L also interacts with and thus dyes thefabric 3 within the nozzle 5 and the dyeing tube 12. The dye liquid Lthat falls down from a rear end of the dyeing tube 12 returns to thebottom of the machine body with a major portion of the dye liquid Ldropping directly into the liquid storage tank 6.

Fullfs that detach from the fabric 3 during conveyance and dyeing arefiltered off by the filter 61 when the dye liquid L flows into theliquid storage tank 6.

Further, since the machine body 1 of the present invention is set in anup-inclined configuration, the height of the fabric guide roller 4 isreduced, meaning the distance between the fabric guide roller 4 and theconveyor device 2 is shortened, allowing the stretching force applied tothe fabric 3 passing over the fabric guide roller 4 to be reduced,thereby preventing the potential risks of damaging the construction andthe characteristics of the fabric.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an up-inclined dyeing machineaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. The dyeingmachine is equipped with a fabric guide roller 4, a nozzle 5, a conveyordevice 2, a dyeing tube 12, a pump 7, a heat exchanger 8, a liquidstorage tank 6, a filter 61, a control box 8, and a chemical tank 11similar to those of the machine body 1 of the previous dyeing machine. Amajor difference between them is that in the previous up-inclined dyeingmachine, the dyeing tube 12 is arranged above the conveyor device 2,while in the instant embodiment, the dyeing tube 12 is located under theconveyor device 2.

The dyeing machine of the present invention as described above providesat least the following advantages:

(1) Since the fabric is not driven by the dye liquid (namely waterquantity) to move in the machine body, the liquor ratio can be madeextremely low so as to greatly save dyes, chemical agents, energy, andexpenditure for waste water treatment.

(2) Since the machine body is of an up-inclined configuration, the dyeliquid is concentrated at the rear end of the machine body to bedirectly pumped by the pump from the rear end of the machine body,eliminating the water consumption for the dye liquid to flow from therear end of the machine body to the front end of the machine body.

(3) Since the machine body is of an up-inclined configuration, theheight of the fabric guide roller is reduced thereby shortening thedistance between the fabric guide roller and the conveyor device, sothat the stretching force applied to the fabric passing over the fabricguide roller is reduced to prevent the potential risk of damaging theconstruction and characteristics of the fabric.

(4) Since the fabric is moved by being supported on the conveyance beltof the conveyor device, getting pilling and scraped due to abrasion withthe surface of the bath are avoided; the fabric is not subjected tostretching force that may damage the construction of the fabric; and dueto the fabric is separated from water; knotting and entangling of thefabric can be eliminated, allowing the fabric to be circulated in asmooth and stable manner with constant speed.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together may also find a useful application in other types ofmethods differing from the type described above.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown anddescribed and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intendedto be limited to the details above, since it will be understood thatvarious omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the formsand details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be madeby those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spiritof the present invention.

I claim:
 1. An up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine,comprising a machine body inside which a conveyor device is arranged,characterized in that: the machine body is arranged in an up-inclinedconfiguration with a front end at a high position and a rear end at alow position, the machine body comprising a dyeing tube that is arrangedin a horizontal or slightly inclined configuration, whereby thefront-high-and-rear-low configuration of the machine body helps reducethe height of a fabric guide roller with respect to the conveyor deviceso as to reduce a stretching force applied to the fabric.
 2. Theup-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1,wherein a liquid storage tank is arranged at a bottom of the rear end ofthe machine body and the liquid storage tank has a bottom that isconnected via a pump to a nozzle, whereby the pump directly draws andpumps dye liquid received in the liquid storage tank to the nozzle andthe dyeing tube to dye a fabric and then directly drop down back to theliquid storage tank.
 3. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeingmachine according to claim 1, wherein the liquid storage tank comprisesa filter mounted therein.
 4. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabricdyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor device isarranged at an inclination angle corresponding to the machine body andthe conveyor device comprises a single conveyance belt.
 5. Theup-inclined conveyor-driving fabric dyeing machine according to claim 1,wherein the conveyor device is arranged at an inclination anglecorresponding to the machine body and the conveyor device comprisesmultiple conveyance belts.
 6. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabricdyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein the dyeing tube is arrangedabove the conveyor device.
 7. The up-inclined conveyor-driving fabricdyeing machine according to claim 1, wherein the dyeing tube is arrangedunder the conveyor device.